"Working hard"

My son stayed in the children's ward. Most of the nursing staff there were really friendly and helpful. In fact the majority of them made an effort to get to know and engage with my son. The first nurse we met didn't do so well though, she seemed to be in a bad mood and never even told us her name. The play assistants were amazing. We went for a visit the week before and a play assistant sat down with my boy and explained everything to him. It really made him feel more confident about his operation. It also worked well from the point of consistency and meant my son saw a friendly face when he arrived for his operation (thank you soooo much). There were even a couple of younger play assistants who were still at college and I was so impressed by their maturity and passion for their work. They made all the kids feel happy and comfortable. The major gripe I have with the hospital is the food. The general canteen seems to be working on improving it's offerings but there is little choice for vegetarians and much of the food on offer is high in sugar and fat. The meals offered to the patients on the children's ward is awful; brought in from outside the food is warmed on site. It lacks any appeal in terms of colour and taste and is not balanced (potato and cheese pie with a choice of mash or boiled potato). At every meal only one vegetable (apart from potato) is available and what is available appears to be from a tin. The hospital needs to review it's patients meals so that they can offer sustenance and nutrition to those that need it most. Hopefully the hospital will review it's food programme in the near future and look to provide something on a par with their quality staff :)